Ok, we’re on our new playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, and whilst we have a way to go, this one will be more deliberate. Working towards different endings. Because in Cyberpunk 2077, your story doesn’t end with a final boss, but with a conversation.
After the “Point of No Return” at Embers, you find yourself on a quiet rooftop with Johnny Silverhand. It is here that the choices you’ve made throughout the game coalesce into a final path.
If you are looking to wrap up V’s story, here’s a guide to the different fates awaiting you and exactly how to reach them.
The Foundation of Your Fate
The ending you receive is largely dictated by which side characters you’ve befriended. While the “Arasaka” path is always available, the more hopeful outcomes require completing specific questlines before you meet Hanako at Embers. If you rush the main story, your options will be severely limited.
Leaving with the Nomads: The Star
Widely considered the most “hopeful” ending, this path sees V leaving the chaos of Night City behind. To unlock this, you must complete Panam Palmer’s entire side questline, ending with the mission Queen of the Highway. On the balcony, choose to call Panam for help. You’ll storm Arasaka with the Aldecaldos, and in the final moments within Mikoshi, you must choose to return to your body. V survives with a few months to live, surrounded by family and a new horizon.
This was the ending we got last time, and it’s going to be so hard not to follow the same path again! Cyberpunk 2077 knows how to write characters.
Becoming a Legend: The Sun
In this ending, V achieves their dream of becoming a legend of the Afterlife.
You unlock this by finishing Rogue Amendiares’ story, specifically the mission Blistering Love. When the time comes to choose on the rooftop, tell Johnny that he and Rogue should go.
Johnny takes control of your body for the final raid. If V chooses to return to their body afterward, they become the new boss of the Afterlife, though the cost of fame is high.
The Corporate Handover: The Devil
This is the “default” Cyberpunk 2077 ending and requires no side quests. You choose to trust Hanako Arasaka’s plan. This path is often bleak, as V becomes a pawn in corporate succession. A key detail here involves Goro Takemura: if you want him to appear in this ending, you must ignore the game’s HUD during the mission Search and Destroy and manually go back upstairs to save him after the building is raided.
Giving Up the Ghost: Temperance
Temperance isn’t a specific path you choose on the balcony, but rather a final decision made inside the digital realm of Mikoshi.
During either the Nomad or Rogue endings, V can choose to let Johnny Silverhand keep their body forever while V’s consciousness vanishes into the Net with Alt Cunningham.
Johnny, humbled by the sacrifice, eventually leaves Night City to start a new, quiet life.
The Ultimate Challenge: Don’t Fear the Reaper
There is a hidden, “secret” ending for those who treated Johnny Silverhand as a true partner.
This path allows V to storm Arasaka Tower completely alone, ensuring that none of your friends—like Rogue or Saul—have to die for you.
To unlock this, you must be very careful with your dialogue during the quest Chippin’ In. While standing at Johnny’s grave, you need to be critical but fair. You must tell him he “fucked that up” regarding your relationship and eventually agree to give him a “last second chance.”
If you did this correctly, sit on the balcony during the final mission and wait. Don’t click any dialogue options for about five minutes. Eventually, Johnny will realize you’re hesitant to put your friends in danger and suggest a “suicide run.”
Be warned: there are no checkpoints during this mission. If you die, the credits roll.
The New Reality: The Tower (Phantom Liberty)
For those with the Phantom Liberty expansion, a completely different conclusion is possible that avoids the Arasaka raid entirely. This ending is earned by your loyalty (or lack thereof) to the NUSA.
To see this through, you must ensure that Solomon Reed survives and that Songbird is delivered to the NUSA.
This might mean betraying her at the stadium or handing her over at the spaceport. If you do this, the NUSA will eventually call you for a surgery that successfully removes the Relic.
You survive, but the cost is your ability to use combat cyberware, leaving V as a “regular” person in a world that has moved on without them.
What to choose…
Cyberpunk 2077 is filled with choice. It’s what makes every moment compelling. The problem with playing through a game again is that you’re not necessarily making “real” choices.
It’s odd playing a game, essentially role-playing a different version of the the character you chose to be before. But that’s the beauty of games, isn’t it? We get to be different, we get to re-live moments and make new choices in those moments.
Let’s see where we end up this time….